Editors:

Production Designer:

Production Companies:

The 23 Oct 1980 HR announced that producer Debra Hill had purchased screen rights to the popular Parker Brothers board game, “Clue,” with plans to turn it into a feature film. The game was based on the 1942 British board game “Cluedo,” and was licensed by Parker Brothers in 1949, as reported in the 22 May 1985 LADN.
Parker Brothers conditions for the sale stipulated that the trademark symbol be included in the film’s title, according to the 20 May 1985 LAHExam, and that the movie would be devoid of profanities, as stated in the 24 Aug 1985 Screen International.
The 16 Nov 1981 DV reported that Universal Pictures would produce the picture, with Lynda Obst teaming with Hill. However, four years later, the 5 Feb 1985 NYT explained that Hill had approached Paramount Studios six years prior, but after they turned the project down, she contracted with Guber-Peters Productions, who then approached Universal president, Ned Tanen, for financing. The film was put on hold for four months in 1982 after Tanen left Universal, but found a home at Paramount when Tanen became president of its motion-picture division.
Turning the board game into a screenplay posed challenges for Hill, who reported in the 5 Feb 1985 NYT that most writers were opposed to the restriction of working with pre-existing characters. According to the 25 Aug 1985 NYT, Hill approached dozens of screenwriters before John Landis, who was set to direct at the time, and executive producer, Peter Guber, found British writer, Jonathan Lynn. Due to ...
MoreLess

The 23 Oct 1980 HR announced that producer Debra Hill had purchased screen rights to the popular Parker Brothers board game, “Clue,” with plans to turn it into a feature film. The game was based on the 1942 British board game “Cluedo,” and was licensed by Parker Brothers in 1949, as reported in the 22 May 1985 LADN.
Parker Brothers conditions for the sale stipulated that the trademark symbol be included in the film’s title, according to the 20 May 1985 LAHExam, and that the movie would be devoid of profanities, as stated in the 24 Aug 1985 Screen International.
The 16 Nov 1981 DV reported that Universal Pictures would produce the picture, with Lynda Obst teaming with Hill. However, four years later, the 5 Feb 1985 NYT explained that Hill had approached Paramount Studios six years prior, but after they turned the project down, she contracted with Guber-Peters Productions, who then approached Universal president, Ned Tanen, for financing. The film was put on hold for four months in 1982 after Tanen left Universal, but found a home at Paramount when Tanen became president of its motion-picture division.
Turning the board game into a screenplay posed challenges for Hill, who reported in the 5 Feb 1985 NYT that most writers were opposed to the restriction of working with pre-existing characters. According to the 25 Aug 1985 NYT, Hill approached dozens of screenwriters before John Landis, who was set to direct at the time, and executive producer, Peter Guber, found British writer, Jonathan Lynn. Due to the strength of his screenplay, Lynn was hired to direct his first feature film and Landis’s role switched from director to executive producer.
The $8 million picture would begin shooting May 1985 on the Paramount Studio Lot in Los Angeles, CA, as noted in a 13 Feb 1985 Var news item.
According to the 25 Apr 1985 DV, actress Carrie Fisher was cast in the picture, but dropped out a few weeks later, as announced in the 14 May 1985 LAHExam, when she checked into a drug dependency recovery program. Lesley Ann Warren, who was originally cast as “Mrs. White,” was moved into Fisher’s role of “Miss Scarlet,” and Madeline Kahn was hired to play “Mrs. White.” According to the 25 Aug 1985 NYT, the actors received equal pay, as was negotiated in their contracts.
The 19 Jun 1985 LAT stated the script for Clue included four different endings to keep the mystery alive for the cast, and to prevent the identity of the film’s killer being leaked to the public. With an expected Christmas 1985 release, rumors persisted that the picture would have four and six different finales, with exhibitors planning to rotate the versions. However, Hill claimed intentions of filming only one ending. According to the 25 Aug 1985 NYT, writer-director Lynn stated he would decide on the ending during the editing process, with the possibility of releasing various versions to theatres. The 24 Aug 1985 Screen International reported the budget had increased to $10 million. Clue was released 13 Dec 1985 on 1000 screens “with three different endings” for theatres, while the home video versions would reportedly include each of the endings, as stated in a 4 Dec 1985 DV news item.
According to the 31 Dec 1985 DV, Paramount was planning to change its approach midway through the film’s domestic release, showing all three endings at every theater engagement. End credits include the following acknowledgment: "Clue and Cluedo are trademarks of Waddingtons and Parker Brothers for their world famous board game."MoreLess

On a rainy New England night in 1954, a butler named Wadsworth readies the Hill House estate for a dinner party. As the guests arrive, Wadsworth assigns them aliases to use for the evening, and instructs them not to use their real names. Over dinner, the guests, Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, and Mr. Boddy learn they all live or work in Washington, D.C., and demand to know why they are there, as they have all received a mysterious invitation requesting their attendance. In the study, Wadsworth, also unaware of the party’s host, reads a letter instructing him to explain the guests’ presence. As Mr. Boddy grows tired of the mystery and attempts to leave, he finds that all the doors and windows are locked, and the house is surrounded by attack dogs. Back in the study, Wadsworth shares that all the guests have secrets and that they have all been blackmailed by an unknown person. The letter instructs the butler to shed light on the partygoers’ secrets, and includes evidence of their misdeeds ranging from bribery, prostitution, and immoral conduct. Curious to learn Mr. Boddy’s secret, Wadsworth names him as the guests’s blackmailer, and reports that the police will arrive in forty-five minutes to arrest him. However, Mr. Boddy claims he has evidence that will keep them silent about his blackmailing scheme. Giving each of the guests a wrapped box, Mr. Boddy explains his letter from the unknown host revealed who would be in attendance. As the boxes are opened to reveal a candlestick, a rope, a lead pipe, a wrench, ...
+−

On a rainy New England night in 1954, a butler named Wadsworth readies the Hill House estate for a dinner party. As the guests arrive, Wadsworth assigns them aliases to use for the evening, and instructs them not to use their real names. Over dinner, the guests, Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, and Mr. Boddy learn they all live or work in Washington, D.C., and demand to know why they are there, as they have all received a mysterious invitation requesting their attendance. In the study, Wadsworth, also unaware of the party’s host, reads a letter instructing him to explain the guests’ presence. As Mr. Boddy grows tired of the mystery and attempts to leave, he finds that all the doors and windows are locked, and the house is surrounded by attack dogs. Back in the study, Wadsworth shares that all the guests have secrets and that they have all been blackmailed by an unknown person. The letter instructs the butler to shed light on the partygoers’ secrets, and includes evidence of their misdeeds ranging from bribery, prostitution, and immoral conduct. Curious to learn Mr. Boddy’s secret, Wadsworth names him as the guests’s blackmailer, and reports that the police will arrive in forty-five minutes to arrest him. However, Mr. Boddy claims he has evidence that will keep them silent about his blackmailing scheme. Giving each of the guests a wrapped box, Mr. Boddy explains his letter from the unknown host revealed who would be in attendance. As the boxes are opened to reveal a candlestick, a rope, a lead pipe, a wrench, a revolver, and a knife, Mr. Boddy suggests that one of the guests should use their weapon to kill Wadsworth, since he holds the keys to the doors, and knows all of their secrets. Mr. Boddy shuts off the lights to create an opportunity for the murder. In the darkness, a thud is heard, and a gun is fired. When the lights are turned on, Mr. Boddy lies dead. As there is no gunshot wound, the guests try to determine who the murderer is, and what weapon was used. Elsewhere in the manor, Yvette, the maid, screams, and when the others find her, she admits to hearing everything, and is terrified of the murderer. Wadsworth later reveals that he was the one who sent the letters, as he had also been blackmailed by Mr. Boddy when he worked for him as a butler. Learning of Wadsworth’s wife’s socialist associations, Mr. Boddy enslaved the couple. In turn, they could not pay him off, and it prompted the suicide of Wadsworth’s wife. Wadsworth planned the evening so Mr. Boddy’s victims could confront him, and have him arrested. As the guests accuse each other of Mr. Boddy’s murder, they discover the cook has also been killed. Back in the study, the body of Mr. Boddy disappears, then turns up in the hallway, making it unclear where the murder occurred. Later, a motorist with a broken down car comes to the door to use the telephone, and the guests worry he will see the dead bodies, so Wadsworth locks him in the lounge while he makes his phone call. Fearing there is someone else in the house committing the murders, the guests split into pairs to search the manor. Meanwhile, an unseen figure destroys the evidence, then sneaks into the lounge and murders the motorist, just as he admits over the telephone to recognizing one of the party goers as his former boss. Discovering a secret passage, Miss Scarlet and Colonel Mustard enter the lounge, and find the slain motorist. Later, a policeman arrives, searching for the owner of the broken down car, and when he asks to use the telephone, his suspicions are aroused by the anxious guests. When someone cuts the power and shuts off the lights, Yvette and the policeman are murdered, along with a woman who came to the door as a singing telegram. Wadsworth claims to know who the murderer is, and replays the night’s events outloud, revealing that the motorist, the policeman, and the singing telegram woman were all Mr. Boddy’s accomplices, and not there by chance. Wadsworth accuses Yvette of the first few murders, and, suggesting that Miss Scarlet was her employer, accuses her of the remaining killings. Miss Scarlet pulls the revolver from her purse and confesses to stealing her fellow partygoers’ secrets, then threatens them to keep quiet about the murders. Noting that Wadsworth has no secrets for which to be silenced, Miss Scarlet prepares to shoot him, but he declares she is out of bullets. Before she can challenge his attentions, the police arrive and arrest her. However, another ending is suggested with Mrs. Peacock as the guilty party. As a ruse, Wadsworth does not have her arrested, claiming he approves of Mr. Boddy’s murder, while outside, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) awaits to arrest her. In a third scenario, the truth is at last revealed, that each guest is guilty of one of the night’s murders. Wadsworth admits he is the real Mr. Boddy, and suggests they depart without involving the police. Mr. Green refuses to allow the blackmailing to continue, and shoots Wadsworth. Revealing that he is an FBI agent, Mr. Green opens the door for his awaiting men, and has the murdering guests arrested.
+−

Seventy-year-old newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies in his palatial Florida home, Xanadu, after uttering the single word “Rosebud.” While watching a newsreel summarizing the years during which Kane ... >>

The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the
AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.